


Carry Me Home

by alltheglowingeyes



Series: Multi-Chaptered Works [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change, im rly nervous about this work oop, might change the title too sry, some ships might change but it depends ig
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25978621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltheglowingeyes/pseuds/alltheglowingeyes
Summary: The Fire Nation has been at war against the other three nations for decades now. Things have been building up, and everyday the division between the four nations grows stronger. The Avatar seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth after the Fire Nation's attacks on the Airbenders.But as the Fire Nation's victory seems to draw closer, a new generation of benders and non-benders, all having survived the perils of the war, are ready to step up and bridge the gaps between the nations, and hopefully put an end to the fighting.Will they be able to reverse years of damage among the nations before it's too late?OR the Heroes of Olympus in ATLA AU that no one asked for lol.(This isn't that great of a summary, so I'll probably rewrite it as the story continues!)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Multi-Chaptered Works [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989604
Comments: 40
Kudos: 79





	1. THALIA POV

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this idea in my head for a while now! ATLA and HoO are two of my favorite fandoms, and I just wanna be able to combine them lol. So this will be a mixture of my own events as well as taking some event basis from the actual ATLA show.
> 
> I'll try to update this once a week maybe? Maybe more often if I can, but as school starts up my uploading schedule will probably suck.
> 
> I do not own any of the characters or events in ATLA or HoO (Did I do the disclaimer right?).
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia and Jason run into some trouble with Fire Nation soldiers.

In hindsight, perhaps having an air scooter race so close to Fire Nation territory was a bad idea.

Thalia had been quite steadfast with her decision that their airbending should remain a secret, used only for the most pressing of emergencies. But she had been in a good mood and Jason was begging her with big polar bear dog eyes, so how could she have been expected to say no?

And, she supposed, one of her secret reasons for saying yes was to indulge a selfish want of hers: to be able to airbend freely and unleash her inner child for once in her life. Her whole twenty-one years of life were spent running and hiding from persecution by the Fire Nation, and she was just _so fucking_ _tired_.

So, when Jason begged her to indulge in one measly air scooter race while they were far from any apparent Fire Nation civilizations, she let her guard down and said yes.

Jason drew a line in the dirt, and the two stood behind it, ready to move. It was an interesting location to try and race each other on air scooters: they were in the Fire Nation territories in the Earth Kingdom, specifically in a secluded area of woods. Large trees and roots cluttered the path in front of them, but that just added an extra element of fun.

She looked over at her brother, who had finished the line and was stretching in place. He turned to face her, grinning excitedly at his sister. 

“Ready to get your ass kicked?” he asked, his electric-blue eyes glinting with challenge. Thalia rolled her eyes, leaning over to muss his short blonde hair, pulling away satisfied as it stuck up crazily.

“Sorry Jace, but despite being my little bro, I’m afraid it is _I_ will be kicking ass today.”

Jason laughed, proceeding to create an air ball large enough to sit on. Thalia followed in suit, as the two siblings smiled at each other, slowly counting down.

“Three… Two… One… _Go_!” they both shouted, their laughter echoing through the woods as the two set off. Thalia felt a genuine smile plastered on her face as she maneuvered swiftly through the trees. The combination of warm sunlight gently filtering through the leaves of the trees and the brush of cool wind against her face was heavenly, and she felt freer than she ever felt in her entire life.

She spotted Jason speeding forward, using the trees as a sort of collection of ramps to launch himself forward. Thalia was tempted to try it out, but she had a feeling she would end up flat on her face if she went with it. As the two sped forward, she lagged behind. She didn’t care particularly about winning, instead taking this as a chance to just enjoy using her bending in peace. Her mother had ingrained in her and Jason’s brains that their bending was to remain a secret. _Once upon a time, your bending would have been a gift_ , she would say, _But now, it will be nothing but a curse for you to carry for the rest of your life_. Thalia listened to her mother’s warnings; despite Beryl Grace not being a great mother, Thalia had heard of what happened to the other airbenders and never wanted that to happen to herself, much less Jason. But racing through the woods reminded her how much she loved her bending powers. It let her have a minute to just imagine what her life would be like if she and Jason didn’t have to hide from the Fire Nation, if they were able to visit and live in the temples of the airbending generation before them.

Of course, the world had to ruin it for her, as she heard a cry of surprise that only could have belonged to Jason ahead. Her eyes widened, as she sped forward to locate her brother.

“Jason? Are you ok?” she shouted. Arriving in a clearing, she immediately got her answer.

Jason was on the ground, cables wrapped around him as he struggled to escape his bonds. Around him were at least ten Fire Nation soldiers. As they heard Thalia enter the clearing. They all turned to face her. One of the soldiers stepped forward, a cruel smile on his face. 

“Well, well. There are more of you, huh? The Fire Lord is going to give us quite the pay raise for bringing you two in,” he sneered.

Thalia grit her teeth, readying a battle stance as she tried to hide any sort of fear on her face. “Bold of you to assume that you’ll be able to take us in.”

The man rolled his eyes, lazily gesturing to the other soldiers as seven more stepped forward, ready to fight. The other two soldiers grabbed a hold of Jason, holding him tightly. 

There was a moment between the soldiers and Thalia as she stared them down. She was a pretty good fighter, after years on the run, but she highly doubted her chances of surviving a fight against eight highly-trained Fire Nation soldiers. Her gaze landed on her brother and the siblings locked eyes. His face conveyed clear fear as he mouthed a single word: _Run_.

She felt as if a belt tightened around her ribs. She didn’t want to run, no; she wanted to fight every single one of the soldiers and just go back to living secretly with her brother. But she knew what he was saying was the best option they had. If she tried to fight, she would be overpowered and both would be taken captive - or worse. Running could give her a chance to prepare better and save him. She swallowed thickly, shooting him a silent message of _I’m sorry, I’ll be back for you_ , before making eye contact with the lead soldier once more.

“What’s wrong? Too scared to fight?” he snarled. “Just come with us now, and this could be a lot less painful for you and your friend here.”

She scowled back at the man. “That’s my brother, thank you very much. And I think I’m going to have to say _no_.” 

As soon as she finished her remark, she spun around, summoning an air ball and taking a head start. The soldiers followed her after their initial shock over her decision to run faded, as she focused on keeping distance between them. They fired at her, shouting curses at her as she put all her energy in speeding ahead. 

Finally, she saw her chance as she came upon an area of dirt that could be a ramp. She let her air scooter dissolve and took a running start. At the last second, she took her air glider from her back and opened it, spreading it open and taking off flying. She could hear the soldiers still shouting as she broke through the top of the trees, maneuvering out of the way of fire and tree branches. As she broke into a free glide, she felt tears blurring her vision. Her purpose for pushing through and dealing with all the _shit_ that life had thrown at her was only Jason, and now she officially lost him.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been flying. All she saw was the open waters below her, overcome by a numbing sadness. She finally spotted a ship on the waters. As she descended slightly, she recognized the shape of the ship and the blue flags on the mast signifying that it was from the Southern Water Tribe. It was then that she became aware of how stiff and painful her arms were from flying for so long, as she hesitantly moved towards the ship. She landed on the deck rather unceremoniously, and heard a shout of surprise from her left. Glancing over, she saw two boys, both around Jason’s age. She didn’t process much about the two of them, except one boy was a brunette with bright green eyes, and the other boy was blonde with blue eyes, much like Jason. 

The green-eyed boy eyed her warily, a spear pointed in her direction, “Who the _hell_ are you? Did you just- did she just fall from the sky?”

He turned to the boy next to him, probably looking for some sort of confirmation of what he just saw. The blonde looked concerned however, stepping forward to Thalia. “You don’t look too good. Do you need to sit down?”

The other boy shot the blonde a look that seemed to say _Why are you offering our help to a complete stranger_? However, before she could say anything, her world tipped to the left and then to the right as she lost her balance.

And then, everything went black.


	2. JASON POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason wakes up after being captured. He makes some new friends as he tries to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot, another update! This took a little longer than I expected, because last minute I decided to completely change a rather major detail lol, but here it is.
> 
> I have an ok idea of where I want this story to go, but it's still pretty up in the air. My updates might be a little wack because of this, so just a heads up! 
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

Jason woke up with a pounding headache. He sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings. He was alone in a dark room ( _ no _ , it was a metal cell) and his hands were in metal cuffs. He immediately tugged at the bonds, but it was to no avail. He tried to get up to look around, but realized that his legs were bound together and attached to the wall by a metal chain, probably to keep him from flying around the cell. He tried to focus on what he should do when a voice cut through his disconcerted thoughts.

“Well well, Sleeping Beauty has risen.”

He followed the voice to its origin and saw a girl in a cell across from him. It was rather dark in the area, save some strategically placed torches along the hall, so he couldn’t make out much of her features at first. His eyes adjusted and his heart skipped a beat.

She was beautiful without even trying, with brown hair choppily cut and hung loose, with two long blue hair ties at the front of her hair and tanned skin. Her eyes seemed to change colours with each minimal shift of her head, and she wore a dark blue tunic and dark leggings. However, what really caught Jason’s eye was how she was chained up. Unlike his own bonds, a lot more effort was put into hers. The girl’s arms were chained to opposing walls and she was on her knees, clearly unable to move much. Nonetheless, she looked perfectly calm in her situation.

Jason took too long to respond as she quipped. “We thought you might be dead, although seeing as you haven’t said anything you might actually be a ghost or some shit.”

Jason shook his head, clearing his throat. “Uh no, I think I’m alive. But what do you mean ‘we’?” he asked in confusion.

“She’s referring to me,” cut in another voice, this one sounding as if it belonged to a guy. Sure enough, he saw a boy come out of the shadows in the cell next to the girl. He was pale with long raven black hair and eyes that matched. The boy wore a black long-sleeved tunic with a gold border and white pants that flared towards the ends. He seemed the least bound out of the three, with a simple pair of metal cuffs around his wrists.

Jason’s head was still pounding, and frankly trying to focus on the two other prisoners wasn’t helping. He opted to keep his gaze weak as he looked between the two, finally remembering to ask, “W-Where am I? And who are you guys?”

The guy raised an eyebrow, “Where do you  _ think _ you are? It’s your stereotypical Fire Nation ship, and we’re probably on our way to the nearest high-security Fire Nation prison. And as for who we are…” he smirked to himself, like he was laughing at his own joke. “Well, let’s just say we qualify as VIP’s, or Very Important Prisoners.”

The other girl grinned at the comment, and Jason vaguely wondered if the two of them were insane. The girl seemed to notice Jason’s confusion as she cleared her throat. “Right, sorry. I’m Piper McLean, daughter of the chief of the Northern Water Tribe. My prisoner neighbor here is Nico di Angelo.”

Before she could explain, Jason’s eyes widened in recognition, “Di Angelo? As in from the di Angelo family?”

The guy, Nico, raised an eyebrow, “No, of course not. That’s just a crazy coincidence.”

Jason shook his head, ignoring the sarcasm dripping from the other boy’s words. “Your family is one of the richest in the entire Earth Kingdom! Possibly the whole world! But if you two are so, well,  _ important _ , why are you guys here?”

Piper sighed, leaning forward. She scowled at her chains, tugging at them slightly as she turned back to Jason. “I was sailing with some others from my tribe. It was supposed to be a simple trip but we ran into some trouble with the Fire Nation. Once they realized who I was, well, they let everyone else go as long as I came as their prisoner. As for Nico here…” she turned her head to face him. “You want to explain?”

Nico shrugged, “My story isn’t as interesting. I was on business for my father, managing some trade deals for him. On my way back, I got sidetracked and next thing I knew, I ended up here.” His black eyes bore into Jason critically, “Now, I think you should give us a bit of background on yourself. What made you so important that you’re here with the VIP’s?”

Jason nodded carefully. A voice in his head that sounded vaguely of Thalia said _Don’t trust them. Keep to yourself_ , but he had a feeling they were telling the truth. It was only fair he did the same. “My name is Jason Grace. I was travelling with my sister, but we ran into Fire Nation troops. They got me, and I’m pretty sure my sister got away. But well, the only reason I can think of for why I’m here is…” He held his palms facing one another and slowly focused on creating a small air sphere between his hands. He heard Piper gasp, and when Jason looked at Nico even he looked surprised.

The boy quickly recovered himself, however, raising an eyebrow at Jason, “So, you’re an airbender? I thought all of you were, y’know,  _ dead _ .”

Piper shot Nico a stern look, but Jason just shrugged. “Our mother raised my sister and I. She was an Earth Kingdom citizen, so we didn’t grow up at the temples. When the Fire Nation attacked we just laid low in the Earth Kingdom.”

“Is your sister an airbender too? Do you know where she is?” Piper asked.

Jason shook his head, glancing at the floor of his cell, “She is an airbender, although I have no idea where she is. When I was captured, I told her to run”. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. It made him anxious, being separated from his big sister. They had been through everything together, and the idea of never seeing her again broke his heart. But he also felt it in his soul he  _ would _ see her again, for he knew Thalia would probably tear the Fire Nation down brick by brick to find him. All he had to do was survive.

Nico cleared his throat, drawing Jason out of his thoughts. “Right, well it was nice talking to you. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to go.”

Jason frowned at the two teens, “What do you mean? Where are you-” 

Piper and Nico were silent, as Nico turned to the back of his cell to retrieve something. Jason’s eyes widened as he realized what the other boy meant, “You guys have an escape plan?” he hissed in a quieter voice.

Nico nodded, as he came back to the entrance of his cell and glared at the airbender. He had something in his hand, but Jason couldn’t make it out. “Yeah, we do have a plan. Before you ask, no, you can’t come. I’m only bringing McLean here with me because her waterbending is my best bet of getting off this ship.”

Piper turned her head to Nico, making a kissy face. “Love you too, my dude.” Nico rolled his eyes, ignoring her.

Jason moved as close as he could to the bars of his cell. “Wait, please! I can help! I have my airbending, you know, and I can fight. Just let me come, and I promise we can split up as soon as we are off this ship.”

Nico’s expression was stony as he shook his head. However, Piper seemed to study him carefully, before turning to Nico. “I think we should let him come.”

Nico glowered at the girl, “Don’t tell me this is just because he’s a pretty face. It’s going to be hard enough to try and get out quietly with two people.”

Jason could have sworn Piper’s face was tinged red, as she scowled back at Nico, “He’s an  _ airbender _ , Nico. He could be good help when getting out. Firebenders probably have no idea how to fight an airbender.”

Nico sighed, bringing his cuffed hands to his head as he massaged his temples. He glared once more at Jason before sighing, “Fine. But if he messes things up, I will not hesitate to leave him behind.”

Jason held back a sigh of relief, shooting Piper a quick look that read  _ Thank you _ . Then he cleared his throat, finally speaking up. “So, how are we to get out of the cell?”

Immediately Piper grinned, looking quite pleased. “Oh, Nico’s got that covered.”

Nico nodded, bringing the object in his hands to full view. It looked to be a small knife-shaped object. Jason frowned, “Have you had that the whole time?”

Nico gave him another look. “If I had it the whole time, I would have escaped already,” he grumbled, as he trained his eyes on his handcuffs, using the object to pick the lock. A few seconds later, the lock clicked and his handcuffs fell off. Nico grinned, wringing out his wrists as he moved to the lock on his cell door next.

Jason looked to Piper for an explanation of what the other boy was doing. Piper just smiled, “They’ve done a good job of keeping us away from water and earth, but they forgot the ship is powered by coal. And there is a pretty conveniently placed vent to Nico’s cell, so once Nico got some coal he shaped it into, well,  _ that _ .”

Another click drew their attention back to Nico, as his cell door opened and the teen strolled out, looking very proud of himself. He made his way to Piper’s cell, quickly working the lock on her cell door before moving to unchain her other bonds. As soon as she was free, Piper stood up shakily, leaning on an uncomfortable looking Nico for a few seconds as she got her balance back. Once Piper pushed off him and began stretching, Nico finally made his way to Jason’s cell, unlocking the door.

Jason extended his chained wrists to Nico, who picked the bonds with his coal lock-picker. As he was doing this, he quietly muttered, “Listen. I’m serious about what I said before. I don’t care about what you or the Princess do after we are free, but we are  _ not _ friends. If something goes wrong, I will not hesitate to leave you behind. Got it?”

The airbender nodded silently as the lock on his chains clicked open and he was free. He still gave Nico a smile and murmured a  _ thank you _ , which the boy ignored as he stepped into the corridor with Piper. Jason followed in suit, as the three stood watching the end of the open hallway for soldiers.

“Ok, we’re going to have to move quietly. Hopefully, we won’t have a run in with any soldiers until the main deck, but if we do I think you will be the best bet we have to fight,” Piper whispered, pointing to Jason. 

The boy blinked in confusion, “Aren’t you guys benders too?”

Piper nodded, “We are, but I’m still a little stiff, so I want to try and save my strength for when we are on the main deck, because I’ll have more water readily available.”

“I have some coal that I could fashion into a weapon, I guess, but McLean is right. You have enough air around here to be able to defend us if all else fails,” Nico added begrudgingly.

Jason nodded, “Alright, I can walk ahead then. You guys have any idea which way we should go to get to the main deck?”

Piper shrugged, smiling slightly. “When in doubt, go straight and turn left?”

Jason grinned back, following her suggestion as they started down the hall.

The process of sneaking out of their cells and to the main deck was surprisingly simple. They didn’t have any run-ins with guards; in fact, they only saw two guards the whole time as they passed through a corridor. It was comforting to be able to breathe for a bit, but also disconcerting, seeing as if most of the guards weren’t patrolling the halls, they were probably on the main deck.

The trio soon arrived at a large wooden door. Behind the door, they could hear voices chatting - soldiers, most likely. 

Piper took a deep breath. “That’s the door to the main deck. I can feel the water already,” she turned to both the boys, stepping at the front of the group. “I’ll go first, maybe try to wipe the deck out. You guys follow me after. We need to look for a smaller boat to take. If you see one, call me over and we can cut it down. Then, I can help us move faster away. Alright?”

Jason and Nico both nodded, as she gave both of them a quick smile before turning to face the door. She closed her eyes, spreading her hands out for a moment before moving them to the left. Beyond the door, Jason heard surprised shouting, and as Piper opened the exit, he understood why.

The deck was now completely damp, and many of the soldiers had tumbled over to the far left of the area, all of them soaking wet. However, not all the soldiers were completely off-kilter, as a female guard shouted at the trio, immediately pressing forward to attack.

Piper had many of the soldiers covered; after all, they were surrounded by water so she was completely in her element. She moved gracefully, taking some water from around her and forming some sort of tentacles as she threw the advancing soldiers back. He caught sight of Nico, who seemed to be looking for the boat. Despite not having much to bend, the earthbender was fighting strong, bending the coal into a dagger to fend off some soldiers. Jason did his best to fend off the few soldiers who Piper and Nico couldn’t deal with, blasting anyone who came too close back to one of the sides of the ship.

Their plan was working quite well; the soldiers on the deck were getting tired, and Jason felt confident on their ability to escape. That is, until Nico came over to the other two, shouting “There’s no fucking boat! What are we supposed to do now?”

Jason heard Piper curse as she batted away another soldier. “Uh, did you check everywhere?”

Nico rolled his eyes, looking ready to shoot her a snarky response, when suddenly the door that they had entered from burst open. At least ten more soldiers came out, all in battle stance. Jason had no idea how they didn’t see those soldiers earlier, but it didn’t matter. They were completely surrounded.

As the trio moved to be back-to-back, Jason glanced at the other two teens out of the corner of his eye, trying to read their faces for any sort of idea of what to do.

“What the hell are we supposed to do?” Nico hissed, brandishing his weapon at the incoming soldiers. 

Jason noticed Piper seemed to be thinking hard as she flung a few more soldiers on her side away. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. “Do you guys trust me?”

Jason was inclined to say yes, but Nico immediately snorted, “Um,  _ no _ . I literally met you like a week or so ago. Why would I?”

Piper scowled, “Ok  _ fine _ . Do you want to die then?”

Nico didn’t answer, clenching his jaw shut as he shook his head. 

Piper nodded, “Thought so. Now, I’m going to clear us a path, and we are going to stick together and jump off the edge, got it?”

Before either of them could respond, Piper straightened up and used all the water that was forming her defensive tentacles to wipe out a set of soldiers, immediately breaking into a sprint to the edge.

“C’mon!” she shouted as she ran to the edge of the ship. Nico ran after her as Jason followed closely behind, blasting away some more guards with steady streams of air. 

As they reached the edge of the ship, they stopped for a moment, Nico on Piper’s right and Jason on her left. The waterbender extended one hand to Nico and the other to Jason. Jason immediately took her hand, as she turned and shot him a gentle smile. Nico hesitated, before doing the same, although he didn’t look happy with the situation.

“If I drown, I’ll escape the afterlife to kill you,” he grunted as Piper snorted. Behind the trio, Jason could hear the soldiers coming to their senses and stepping forward.

“Now!” Piper yelped, and with that exclamation the trio jumped off the edge and into the deep blue below.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 complete, let's gooooo.
> 
> Please let me know if there are any grammar and spelling issues! These chaptered stories tend to be harder for me to proofread at times lol, but I do my best to get rid of any glaringly obvious errors. 
> 
> And thank you for any feedback or support! I'm still pretty nervous about posting this sort of AU (and generally posting my writing), so it means a lot!
> 
> One more thing: If you have any suggestions or feedback on how I describe their actual bending, please let me know! That's one of the parts I've been struggling with the most in this story, so constructive criticism is welcome!


	3. WILL POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will gets to know the surprise visitor to the Southern Water Tribe and comes to an important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter summary s u c k s lol, sorry about that.
> 
> In general, this chapter was harder to write, mostly because I have to make some major plot point decisions that I'm still iffy on. I'll write more about that in the end notes, however, as to not spoil anything.
> 
> I will try to post weekly for this story, but I apologize ahead of time if I don't stick to the schedule perfectly (I don't really write multiple chapters ahead of time because I suck at time management lol). I'll also try to upload earlier if I finish chapters ahead of time.
> 
> Also, I made a tumblr: alltheglowingeyess ! I'll be posting random PJO/HoO content, as well as updates for when I post something new or update stories like this! Feel free to check it out, if you want.
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

In his entire fifteen years of life, Will’s world had been confined to the Southern Water Tribe.

He never traveled far from the tribe; in fact, the farthest he went would probably be during fishing trips with Percy. He dreamed of being able to someday visit all the other nations, maybe even study in the legendary Northern Water Tribe, but Will considered that to be a stretch for a dream.

That is, until a girl fell out of the sky and landed on his and Percy’s fishing ship.

When the girl had landed, dressed in clothes that Percy told him were probably indicative of Earth Kingdom commoner status, she almost immediately passed out. Percy was wary of her, insisting that they tie her up or something, in case she was a Fire Nation spy. However, Will was not having it as he shot Percy a look, insisting he take them back to the village so Sally could take a look at her. As they sailed back, Will attempted to use his limited bending to try and check for any injuries, but ended up frustrated when it failed.

He wasn’t surprised that his waterbending and healing were so shitty; he didn’t have any benders to look to for guidance, so everything he knew about bending was self-discovered or told to him by some of the other adults in the tribe. But it never ceased to hurt when he couldn’t control his bending even for simple tasks. It made him feel like a smear on the lineage of waterbenders before him.

He did his best to ignore his insecurities, keeping his focus on the raven-haired girl. He had no idea why she was here, but it seemed that she somehow flew down to their boat. She had a staff that she dropped when she collapsed, but Will couldn’t figure out how she had made it into a glider before.

He and Percy spent the rest of the time sailing back to the tribe and bickering over Will examining the staff ( _“Put it down, you dolt! What if it’s cursed?” “Percy, I have never heard of a cursed staff before. And I’m not a dolt, you are”_ ). Once they made their way back to the tribe, Percy unloaded the meat they had caught and played bodyguard as Will awkwardly carried the girl to the Jackson’s tent, shielding Will and their new addition from the other members of the tribe. Once the girl was settled, Sally tucked her in and checked her over, deeming her to just be exhausted and in need of rest. She said the girl could stay in their tent as long as she needed, much to Percy’s chagrin ( _“Mom! What if she’s a Fire Nation spy?” “Perseus Jackson, Fire Nation spy or not, she is a guest, and I’m not about to turn away any person in need of shelter!_ )

Eventually, Percy gave up on arguing, storming off to probably sulk in his watchtower or something. Sally left too for a while, when one of the other tribe members needed some help with some stitching. Will was left alone in the tent, as Sally left him to watch over the girl in the partitioned section of the home. He spent about ten minutes awkwardly trying to practice shaping snow with his waterbending, but after his fifth failed snowball, he groaned, chucking the snow across the room.

As he seethed silently, a voice cut through his thoughts, “Uh, you dropped this?”

Will’s head snapped up as he locked eyes with the previously unconcious girl. She had electric blue eyes that contrasted starkly with her pale skin and black hair. He immediately shot up, making his way closer to the girl, but stopped as he saw her tense up.

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Will, and you’re safe now.”

She frowned, eyeing him over warily as her hands twitched. “Ok, _Will_. If I’m safe with you, I’ll need some answers. First of all, where am I? Secondly, what happened to me? Thirdly, how long have I been here, And finally, give me my glider back.”

Will blinked, keeping his hands raised in a surrender. “You’re at the Southern Water Tribe, you passed out on our fishing boat - our being Percy’s, my friend, and mine, you’ve been here for like a few hours? I don’t know. And the last thing isn’t a question, but I promise I’ll give you your staff back if I can at least get some sort of idea of who you are.”

The girl seemed to relax slightly, seemingly satisfied with Will’s answers. “I’m Thalia. I got here, uh- I don’t remember why. I’m not from around here though, I’m from the Earth Kingdom. Is that enough to get my staff back now?”

Will hesitated, before nodding. He moved over to her and gently helped her up, making sure she had her balance and ignoring her annoyed gaze. He led her to the main room of the tent, grabbing the staff from the corner of the room and going to hand it back to her. He noticed, as she took the staff, that she was pretty interested in the various animal pelts and basic decorations around the tent.

“Cute. Looks warm for a place that’s practically buried in snow.” Thalia glanced at Will, “So, this is your place? Your parents are ok with me just having camped out here for a few hours?”

Will swallowed, a pang in his chest. His parents were always a sensitive topic, but he did his best to ignore the feelings bubbling up inside of him, answering, “I live here with Percy and his mom, Sally. Sally is perfectly fine with you staying here as long as you need.”

Thalia nodded, and Will was grateful that she didn’t press about his parents. Instead, she asked some more questions about the tribe and where they were in general ( _How many people are here? Is it always this cold? What do you guys eat? Can I meet this Percy guy? How do I, like, leave?)_ . Will did his best to answer all her questions as succinctly as possible ( _Like two dozen? It’s a small tribe. Yes, it’s always pretty cold, we’re surrounded by snow after all. We eat lots of meat, but we could try to get something else for you if that’s a problem. Percy doesn’t take that well to strangers, but you can definitely meet Sally. Not sure how you can leave; we could try to get you a ship, but you could always use your glider thing_ ) _._

Eventually, Thalia seemed to run out of questions about the tribe, asking a more personal question, “So, are you a bender?”

Will hesitated for a second before nodding, “I’m a waterbender. I’m, well, not exactly that good at it, but I hope after the war is over I can go to the Northern Water Tribe and get some proper training.”

Thalia frowned, “Why not get some other waterbender here to teach you?”

Before Will could answer, a sharp voice cut in, “ _Will Solace_.” 

Will froze, turning around to see Percy standing by the door of the tent. He could already tell Percy was irritated, but still did his best to shoot him a bright smile. “Percy! Our _guest_ here finally woke up! Her name is Thalia, and- “

Percy cut him off, turning to address Thalia. “You. Wait outside for a minute. Don’t touch anything and don’t bother anyone, got it?”

Thalia narrowed her eyes, looking annoyed at Percy’s attitude. She didn’t react or anything, however; instead, she did as he told her, giving Will a small wave before stepping outside.

The moment she left, Percy fixed a glare on Will. “What were you _thinking_ ? We have no idea who she is, and you’re just telling her everything the Fire Nation would need to know to get a leg-up on us. And you- where the _hell_ did the staff go? Did you give it back to her? What if that’s a weapon, Will? She could hurt people!”

Will shot Percy a look, “C’mon, Perce. She doesn’t seem to be a threat, and neither does her staff! And Sally said that she’s a guest, not some prisoner.”

“Well, it’s one thing to treat her as a guest, but you’re telling her too much, more than what she needs to know. And why would you tell her about your bending, Will? You _know_ how dangerous that can be if she passes the information off to the wrong person.”

Will swallowed thickly. He hadn’t thought about _that_. Frankly, he knew Percy was right, that he should have been a little less liberal with the information he gave out. But he had a feeling that Thalia wasn’t a danger to them. Besides, he didn’t want to admit defeat to Percy.

“It’s fine, Percy, honestly. I think you’re overreacting.”

Percy glared intensified. “ _Overreacting_? Will, we don’t need the Fire Nation coming for us again. If they find out they missed a waterbender during their last raid, we’re all going to be hurt! Can’t you just, I don’t know, think about what you do before you go ahead and do it? Why is it that I have to constantly play parent to y-”.

Will glowered, cutting Percy off with a misshapen snowball to the face. The snow sloshed down Percy’s face, as the two stared each other down for a few seconds. Then, both boys immediately scooped up some more snow, not even stopping to form snowballs as they retaliated. Will was considering trying to sink Percy into the snow (although, he didn’t trust his waterbending to get it right), when suddenly someone shouted, “ _Boys_!”

Immediately, Will let the snow he had floating between his hands drop. Percy did the same with his load, as the two turned to face an annoyed yet slightly amused looking Sally Jackson.

“How many times have I told you two: no fighting _or bending_ inside! Now what’s going on with you two? And Percy, why is our guest standing outside in the cold, telling me you kicked her out?” Sally asked, shooting her son a look.

Percy scowled, “Will started it! He was telling her everything about the tribe. I mean, we don’t know anything about her! I was just warning Will to be more careful.”

Sally rolled her eyes, moving closer and brushing some snow off of Percy’s shoulders. “That sounded less like warning and more like yelling. I think you need to take a walk and cool down, ok sweetie?”

Percy huffed, probably about to protest. However, Will cut in first, “Don’t bother. I was leaving for a walk of my own anyways,” he mumbled as he walked out, ignoring Sally calling to him to stay. Will walked right by Thalia, avoiding eye contact as he made his way to one of the holes in Percy’s makeshift walls. He clambered past the wall, absentmindedly wandering through the flat, icy land in front of him, till he reached the edge of the land, sitting down and staring at the water. Sighing, he absentmindedly attempted to raise and lower the water, lost in thought.

He planned to make amends with Percy once he went back. Percy was right that he did take care of Will; both him and Sally took Will in after the last Fire Nation raid - the one that took his parents from him. It should have made him more wary, like Percy, of strangers; however, it made him more desperate to live his life wildly, to do something meaningful and out of the ordinary. He couldn’t do that, however, if he was constantly hiding in fear of being hurt by the Fire Nation for his waterbending. He wanted to master his waterbending, specifically understand the healing aspects of his bending. After losing so many important people in his life, he never wanted to feel helpless again, and he figured at least being a competent healer could help him with that goal. But he would never be able to advance his healing unless he left the South Pole. However, leaving the South Pole would be leaving behind everything he knew and everyone who was left that he cared for. In other words, Will wasn’t sure if the freedom and knowledge he would receive by leaving was worth losing those close to him.

A voice drew him out of his thoughts, “Hey.”

Will frowned, turning around and looking up to see Thalia. He nodded back to her, “Hi. Want to sit?”

She moved and sat down next to Will, silent for a few seconds before speaking up, “Sorry if I caused some in-fighting between you and your friend. I don’t think he likes me much.”

Will shrugged, “He’s just being cautious. Don’t take it personally, but Percy’s just worried you're, well, a Fire Nation spy or something.”

Thalia’s expression darkened. “Trust me, I’m _not_ a spy, but I understand his caution. He cares for you like family, which I can understand.” She hesitated, as if pondering whether she wanted to reveal something. “Actually, the reason I’m here is, well, my brother and I were attacked by Fire Nation soldiers. They took my brother, but I got away. That’s why I have to leave soon, to find him again.”

Will blinked, processing the information. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is there- can I help in any way?”

Thalia raised an eyebrow at him. “Unless you want to come travel with me to find my brother, not really. Although…” she chewed her lip, “You said you want to go to the Northern Water Tribe someday, right? To master waterbending?”

Will nodded slowly.

“Come with me then. You can help me try and find my brother, and I’ll help you get to the Northern Water Tribe. I’m pretty good at moving around under the radar, so I can help you get there safely. I could also use your waterbending in a sticky situation,” Thalia replied, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder, her eyes studying him critically.

Will looked down, cracking his fingers nervously. “I don’t know, I mean this is my home, and I’m not some master bender so I wouldn’t be too helpful honestly. And I mean, no offense, but why are you trying to help me?”

“Will, I’ve heard you talk about bending. You really care about mastering it. Don’t deprive yourself of following this passion just because you're afraid of moving on. As for why I’m helping you, well... “ she gave him a tentative smile, “You remind me of my brother.” 

Thalia stood up, stretching a hand out to Will to help him up. “I can’t force you to come with me, but you can take me up on my offer anytime before I leave, ok?”

Will chewed his cheek, taking Thalia’s hand and standing up as well. “I… You’re right. I know you are. But if I come with you, can we wait a day or so before leaving? I just need time to collect things that we will need, but well, without Sally and Percy catching me. Is that ok?”

Thalia shot him a crooked grin, “I can deal with that. We’ll leave in two days then.”

The two shook hands. “Thank you,” Will said as he gave her a grateful smile.

Thalia nodded, smirking. “Let’s get back to the tribe. I’d rather not be killed by Percy before we even get a chance to set foot out of the area.”

The two started back to the tribe, and Will felt a mixture of excitement and slight fear bubbling in his chest, but the feeling was welcome. For the first time in years, Will was filled with hope for a better future.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I mentioned at the beginning notes, my biggest problem with this chapter was deciding some major plot points:
> 
> 1) Percy is a non-bender as of now. I know that it would probably make sense to just make him a waterbender, but I wanted to try and change it a little? IDK. I wrote the chapter vaguely enough that I could change that if I needed to, but please let me know what your thoughts are! I kind of want to draw parallels for Percy based on Sokka, so that's part of the reason he is a nonbender. Also, Percy kind of comes of as a jerk in this chapter, but he won't be like that the whole time I swear lol.
> 
> 2) Will's whole parents situation is iffy. Again, I tried to avoid mentioning it too much, so that if I really needed to change it I could just go in and edit it before updating the chapter again? Meh; basically, I have Will a tad like Katara in my head for now, but I'm still not sure. I made Will a waterbender though because of healing and stuff; I like to have his passion for helping people translate into this AU.
> 
> Okayyyy, that was a lot to overexplain lol. But anyways, leave me your thoughts/feedback if you want! I really appreciate any comments, especially with what I could improve, what you might want to see, or what you liked!
> 
> Thanks for reading the chapter!


	4. NICO POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and his fellow escapees finally reached land. Now, they have to decide where they plan to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saving my shame about this extremely late update for the end notes. 
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

The moment his feet touched dry land, Nico collapsed and hugged the ground. “Ugh,  _ finally _ . How I’ve missed  _ this _ .”

Nearby him, he heard a snort as Piper remarked, “You look like you’re eating the dirt right now. Very dignified, Mr. Ambassador.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but nonetheless pushed himself up into a sitting position, still enjoying the ground presence of earth beneath his feet. In front of him, Piper had also collapsed on the ground, looking rather exhausted despite her teasing smile. He understood why, of course; she had spent what felt like hours keeping the other two boys from drowning, maintaining a water bubble around them as they travelled throughout the water blindly in search of land. It was probably draining of her energy.

Jason was the most alert of the group, standing up and stretching as he squinted at the glaring sun above them. Nico sighed, laying back on the sand with his hands behind his heads as he went back and forth between listening to and tuning out Piper and Jason discussing what was next. 

After taking a few more minutes to soak in the fresh air and raw earth beneath him, he felt energized enough to get a move on. “It was nice doing a prison break with you guys. Have fun with whatever. I think this is my cue to leave.”

The earthbender pushed himself upright, stretching out quickly before walking away into a different direction, ignoring the surprised expressions on the other two benders faces. However, he only made a few steps away before he felt a hand rest on his arm.

Scowling, he yanked his arm away, turning to face Jason. “Don’t touch me, pretty boy.”

Jason winced, looking embarrassed. “Sorry, sorry. I just… You should come with us. Safety in numbers, you know?”

Nico rolled his eyes at the airbender, glancing at Piper to gauge her opinion. Seeing the enthusiastic smile on her face, he sighed. “I don’t need any of your help. I’ll be fine on my own.”

Piper raised an eyebrow, stepping forward. “Do you even know where we are right now? We might still be on Fire Nation territory; in fact, that’s the most likely explanation.”

Jason nodded along to the waterbender’s point. “Just stick with us for a bit. We could really use a powerful bender like yourself.”

Nico rubbed his temples, thinking it over. He knew that Jason was trying to appeal to his ego, while Piper was trying to play fears of the unknown against him. But both made good points; he had no idea where he was and he  _ was _ a pretty great bender. The other two weren’t too bad themselves, based on their fighting on the ship.

He made up his mind, looking up at the other two benders and nodding. “Fine, I’ll play along. But I said it before and I’ll say it again; if my life is on the line, I’m putting myself first. Got it?”

Piper grinned, giving him a mock salute. Jason seemed to study Nico carefully with his intense blue eyes for a few seconds before nodding.

Silence fell between the three of them for a few seconds as they all stared at each other. Finally, Piper broke the silence.

“Ok, two things. First of all, we need to figure out where to actually go. Second, we need to get some disguises. If we really are in Fire Nation territory, all three of us stick out like a sore thumb.”

Jason nodded, seemingly lost in thought. “I need to find my sister… I don’t have any idea where she could be, so I guess I can go wherever until I get a lead.”

Piper hummed in agreement, smiling at the airbender. “That’s ok. I need to get back to the North Pole, but that’s definitely going to be a long term goal. For now, I need to at least send some sort of indication that I’m alive to my father.”

The two turned to Nico, waiting for his requirements. When Nico didn’t say anything, Piper prompted “So? You probably need to get back to your home right? In the Earth Kingdom?”

Nico bit back another scowl, trying to figure out how to frame his response. He wasn’t just about to give up everything about himself to these two near strangers. His father had most likely by now either sent some muscle to search for Nico or accepted him to be dead. He really hoped for the latter of the two options.

“I can go wherever. I have some business to attend to in Ba Sing Se, I suppose, but let’s focus on getting her Highness home first.”

Piper nodded, immediately moving around to figure out where they should go to at least find civilization. Jason, on the other hand, was staring Nico down.

_ He’s not buying it _ , Nico thought to himself. A flash of anger overtook him as he glared at Jason. “Problem?”

Jason blinked before shaking his head. “Nothing as of now.” Before Nico could continue drilling Jason about his expression, the airbender changed the subject.

“See anything, Piper?” he called out, moving to stand next to the waterbender. Nico rolled his eyes, already envisioning the apparent third-wheeling that he would have to deal with for the rest of their travels, but nonetheless joined the duo.

Piper shrugged, glancing at Jason. “I can’t really see past all the stupid rocks. You think you can do a flying thing and just… Launch yourself up to scope out the area?” she asked, adding vague hand gestures for emphasis.

Jason grinned at Piper in response before wordlessly launching himself upwards with jets of air from his hands. The gusts were so strong that Piper was knocked over and Nico was pretty sure he ate a solid few locks of hair, but by the time the two had regained their balance, Jason was back in his original spot.

“There’s a village not too far from here. Based on the decor, I think we’re in Fire Nation territory, so we’re going to need disguises of some sort.”

Nico glanced around the area, already beginning to zone out when he spotted something. He slapped Jason’s arm, ignoring the other boy’s yelp of surprise.

“That’s got to have some good clothes, right?” he said, pointing to some clotheslines strung up in a large cave to their right.

Jason knit his brows, looking a little uncomfortable. “Those belong to someone though. I really don’t think we should-”

“Wait, that long-sleeve top though… Dibs!” Piper yelped, rushing to the hanging clothes. Nico grinned, glancing at Jason with an expression that read  _ Well? What now? _

Jason sighed. “I suppose if it’s crucial to our survival, we can take some outfits.”

That was all Nico needed to hear as he rushed forward, immediately grabbing for various articles of clothing that he thought looked neat. The three spent the next few minutes trying on different outfits until they had something that each of them were comfortable in.

Piper had gotten her hands on the said dark red long-sleeve top she had called dibs on originally and paired it with black pantaloons, leather shoes, and a red vest, citing that  _ I would rather die than wear a skirt and sandals and go hiking for god knows how long _ . Jason donned a loose-fitting grey sleeveless top and basic black pants, with black sandals to match. Nico had taken a brown long-sleeve tunic and shoes much like Piper’s, keeping his own black leggings. Piper had insisted that he at least let her tie him a top-knot, as his outfit was quite generic and plain otherwise. Nico didn’t see the problem with being generic, but at that point he didn’t want to fight anymore.

The three fussed over their individual outfits for a few more minutes before Jason smiled at the other two benders. “Shall we?” he asked.

Piper returned the smile, stepping next to Jason and brushing some invisible dirt off his face. “Let’s go, my dudes,” she announced, striding forward in a very un-Princess-like manner. Jason followed behind her, an expression that Nico could only describe as love-sick overtaking his face. The earthbender gagged at the two other teens as he followed a few feet behind.

This was going to be a  _ long _ trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Hi.
> 
> So remember when I said last chapter I would update this weekly?
> 
> I l i e d.
> 
> Ok, but actually, I honestly had really bad writer's block halfway through the chapter, and every time I sat down to write I just hated everything I put out. I still don't really know how the end of this chapter turned out, honestly.
> 
> But I'm going to try to be a little better with updating on this, although I am writing this fic with a vague idea in my head, sort of writing as I go. I appreciate any patience over my extremely painfully slow updates, though.
> 
> As for the chapter's contents itself: I still need to figure out how I want to portray Nico and Piper in the story, as well as make sure that things make sense based on ATLAverse information (geography and clothes, for and example, took forever ahhhhhh).
> 
> But ehhhh, I tried my best rip. I genuinely hoped you liked any part of this chapter.


	5. REYNA POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fire Nation royalty finds out about the airbenders. The hunt begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowza, another chapter. Who would've thought it?
> 
> It's a little short, so I'll just let y'all get right into it.
> 
> TW (I don't know if this is exactly necessary, but I'm putting it just in case): descriptions of abuse
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

Five minutes into the war meeting, Reyna was itching to leave.

It really took all of her self-control to not just scream _FUCK YOU_ and run out of the room. Listening to old generals yammer on about their typical plans for increasing and protecting Fire Nation territory was draining.

She glanced to the side, careful to keep her gaze away from her father and on her sister on his right. Hylla, to any other outside viewer, looked emotionless. However, Reyna noted the slight worry lines on her forehead intensifying; a clear sign that she was annoyed with the meeting and the conversation as well.

The meeting dragged on for what felt like hours. Everytime a general or admiral spoke, it was clear they were just trying to play into her father’s favor. She didn’t blame them, however; one false word and her father would surely end them right then and there. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t overjoyed when a palace soldier ran in, looking extremely flustered.

She kept her gaze on the soldier as her father’s clear and cold voice rang out into the deafening silence that followed the interruption. “You best have a good reason for entering this meeting.”

The undertone of his words was dangerous. The soldier clearly recognized this as he visibly swallowed, handing off a letter in his hands to one of the admirals and bowing deeply.

The admiral read the letter carefully, his expression betraying clear shock. He turned to the Fire Lord, eyes wide. “My lord… it’s about- some soldiers found two Airbenders.”

She felt the flames in front of her growing hotter. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Hylla’s expression flash with confusion and shock before becoming impassive once more. She didn’t blame her sister; the last Airbenders were supposed to have been wiped out almost ten years prior.

Her father spoke up again, his voice dangerously quiet. “Airbenders?”

The admiral nodded. All the officials looked to the Fire Lord for his reaction, clearly nervous of what was to come. Reyna kept her gaze down, holding her breath.

Her father was quiet for a good minute before uttering a curt dismissal to the officials, taking the letter from the admiral. Hylla and Reyna were about to leave, heading to the door when their father spoke up.

“Stop.”

They both froze, locking eyes for a moment as they turned to face their father. This time, Reyna couldn’t divert her attention from him. She felt her heart beating a little faster, trying to keep her slightly harsh breathing quiet as they awaited their father’s further instructions.

His face was illuminated by the fire; sharp and angular in shape, with cold, piercing black eyes. He spoke smoothly to the two, walking down from his seat at the front of the room.

“There are two of these Airbenders remaining. One is in our custody, while the other escaped. You are to find the escapee and either bring them back alive or end them. They are a danger to the balance that our nation has attempted to create.”

He now stood in front of the sisters, his expression stoic. “Are we clear?”

Hylla nodded and bowed, “Yes, father.” Reyna followed in suit.

He nodded in dismissal to them, and for a second Reyna felt relaxed. Then, there were hands on her wrists, not hot enough to leave a permanent mark, but still enough to inflict pain and temporary blisters.

“Do not return empty-handed. Fail me, and you both will never show your faces in the Fire Nation ever again. This is a matter of our nation’s prestige, and I will not hesitate to exterminate those who fail to protect our heritage,” he hissed in her ear. Reyna forced herself to nod, blinking back tears and attempting to stay calm. In front of her, Hylla was as stoic as normal, but Reyna could see the fear behind her sister’s eyes.

After a few more seconds of painful heat on her wrists, her father let her go. She and her sister bowed and made their way out of the room quickly, ensuring the grand door was shut firmly behind them. The moment they were outside, Hylla steered her behind a large pillar, taking Reyna’s arms and checking the wounds.

“It won’t scar, I assume. Let’s get some water to cool the burns for now,” she murmured, her worry lines very visible now.

Reyna pulled her hands away, ignoring the pain as her robes brushed on the burns. “I’ll just head to my chambers. We should prepare to leave either tonight or tomorrow at the latest, although I think it would be best if we covered different areas. Our chances will be higher in finding the airbender that way.”

Hylla’s expression reflected worry, but she nonetheless nodded. “I suppose we should. You will be ok, then?”

Reyna nodded curtly to her sister once more before bidding her a quick goodbye. She appreciated her sister’s intentions, but she would rather start preparing for the trip and deal with a temporary burn then get a more permanent lesson from her father. As she made her way to her chambers, she found her mind wandering as she thought about what she needed to find this airbender. Or, less of _what_ and more of _who_. A few potential allies came to mind as she scribbled their names down so she could get some information on where to begin her search.

  
  


There was a lingering temptation in back of her mind that wanted to simply take Hylla and travel together. She knew it wasn’t possible, however. Even if she hadn’t suggested splitting up to her sister, she knew Hylla would have insisted on going their own ways. It was just the way things were. Sure, the two of them loved each other and wanted to support one another, but their survival often depended on remaining independent and sticking up for themselves. It was why Hylla didn’t interfere in the throne room, or why Reyna would never speak up for her sister when their father was in a rage, even if it was eating away at her.

She glanced at her wrists. The skin was still blistered and red, and she made a mental note to get some sort of soothing cream or water to help with the burning sensation. She supposed that this assignment was a blessing in disguise. She had permission to leave the palace, and a voice inside her head insisted on running and never looking back. But she knew better than to listen.

After all, there was nowhere to hide where the Fire Nation wouldn’t find her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyna has officially be introduced!
> 
> I've had Reyna in this sort of position in this ATLA AU for so long, and I finally decided to write her in. I was originally also going to make Hylla mimic Azula in behavior and with their sibling relationship, but decided against it.
> 
> There are still a few other characters who need to be introduced, but I think the next few chapters will also begin to get into traveling and action-based plot. 
> 
> Also, please let me know if I should have added anymore TW's. I don't know if it was even necessary, but I didn't want to mess up ig.


	6. PERCY POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy has a feeling something is up with Will and the stranger. Turns out, his instincts are right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, this chapter might be a little weak, but I honestly just wanted to get something up. I’ve been working on it for months now and like nothing’s going to change if I just procrastinating so whatever lol. 
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

There was something off about Will and the new girl ( _ Thalia, was it? Hell if Percy knew or cared _ ).

Normally, after a fight between himself and Will, it would take multiple apologies and a peace offering of being a human target for Will to practice waterbending techniques he had been working on. In fact, after Will stormed out of the tent and his mom consequently berated Percy for his behavior, he spent an hour writing a mental apology and rehearsed it multiple times. He genuinely did feel bad for some of what he said; yes, Will had been a tad too liberal with information about the tribe, but he doubted yelling at him was the right decision.

However, when Will arrived back at the tent with the girl in tow, he cut Percy off before he could even start his apology.

“I’m sorry for overreacting. You and Sally have been so good to me since… well, you know. You’re a good guy, though, and I’m thankful to have you watching my back and to knock some sense into me when I need it,” he said, patting Percy’s shoulder. Before Percy could respond, Will made his way to where his mom was working on dinner to help, with Thalia following closely behind. 

Percy narrowed his eyes, sitting to the side and watching the two helping his mom out. For the rest of the night, he tried to gauge what might have led to Will’s sudden change in demeanor. His observations were to no avail, as he tried to shrug it off.

However, the next day, he noticed Will and the other girl ( _ he was going to go with Thalia; that sounded right _ ) were glued to the hip, talking quietly together and seeming to have a sudden change in subject the moment Percy got too close. By the end of the day, he was completely suspicious that something was happening.

He waited the evening out, trying to act normal throughout dinner. As soon as everyone had seemed to go to bed ( _ Sally and Will in the main room of the tent, Thalia in one of the smaller rooms _ ) he moved out of the tent, sitting at the top of his watchtower and staring down where Will and Thalia were. For three hours, he sat outside, waiting for any sign of movement from the tent. He felt his eyes growing heavy over the period, and eventually considered giving in; it didn't look like anything was happening, when he saw a flash of golden-blonde hair ducking out of the main tent.

_ Gotcha, bitch _ , he thought to himself, scurrying down his watchtower and treading as silently as he could across the snow. He managed to shuffle up behind a nearby tent, listening in as Will began speaking.

"Thalia?" the waterbender hissed, "Are you all set?"

Percy heard some movement, tempted to try and look at what was happening. However, he knew that would probably blow his cover, opting to remain silent instead.

After a few seconds of silence, he heard Thalia's voice pipe in. "Ready to go. You know where the boat is?"

Will hummed softly, "We should take one of the smaller ones, if that's ok. I don't want to take away from the tribe too much..."

Percy felt his heart clench at the realization of what was happening. Will was leaving with this stranger. To where, Percy had no idea, but before he could stop himself he shifted out of his hiding spot facing the duo.

“Will, you  _ can’t _ leave. Why are you leaving? Dude, I said I was sorry about yelling at you and… c’mon, Will! We can work this out! Think about mom, and the rest of the tribe, huh? What are we going-”

Before Percy could continue speaking, the girl cut in, “C’mon, man… he’s got to do this. Just turn away now and let us leave.”

Percy felt a flash of anger, spinning on his heels to face the stranger. “ _ Shut up _ . You waltz into our home, refuse to reveal  _ anything _ about yourself, and then leave and try to take one of our most  _ capable _ members with you? You  _ really _ think I’m going to let that slide?”

The girl looked annoyed now, “Watch it. I was planning on leaving on my own, got it? I simply offered that he could come with and  _ he _ said yes. And you know what? If it means getting away from you, I can understand why.”

Before Percy could jump at her, she turned to Will, “I’ll wait by the boat. You can decide if you want to stay or go, but I’m giving you five minutes. Then, I’m leaving.”

With that, she stalked away, leaving Will and Percy in silence. Will glanced at Percy guiltily, opening his mouth to speak as Percy cut him off immediately.

“Will,  _ please _ . You can’t do this. How do you think everyone is going to feel when they wake up and find you gone? And I mean… you don’t  _ know _ her at all. How can anyone be sure that you two are going to be ok out there?”

Will was quiet for a few seconds, eyes trained on the ground. Then, he looked up, blue eyes glowing as a realization dawned on him.

“Come with me.”

Percy’s jaw dropped, staring at the younger boy, “I-  _ Will _ …”

Will shook his head, grabbing Percy's arm, “No, no, no. This could work. You can come with us and fight. You’ve spent forever training yourself, looking for an opportunity to fight out there. Well, this would be your chance.”

Percy hesitated. The idea was…  _ appealing _ . Ever since he had been left in charge of the village with Will, all he wanted was a moment to be able to prove himself to be a warrior, that he could do his part to end the war. But then his thoughts drifted back to his mother, sleeping soundly in their tent.

“Will, I can’t leave mom. And frankly, I don't know how you could either. We - or at least I - am in charge of protecting the tribe.”

Will sighed, worrying his bottom lip, “I do understand, but if we do our part in ending this war, however small it may be, we won’t  _ need  _ to protect everyone any more.”

Percy locked eyes with Will. The younger teen looked apprehensive, but there was a glint of confidence in his eyes. He knew Will wasn’t changing his mind any time soon.

“Ok,” he mumbled quietly. Will blinked in surprise.

“Wait, actually? I didn’t think you would…”

Percy sighed, “I mean, I guess you’re right. And if I’m being honest, I don’t trust you to run off alone with some random girl, as crazy as that might sound.”

The corners of his lips turned up, “Of course. Insane.”

Percy almost laughed, when a voice spoke up from behind them, “You guys could have at least given me an hour's notice to get you supplies?”

Will and Percy exchanged a look that read  _ shit _ as the two turned to face the speaker. Sally Jackson stood silently watching the boy’s, clearly having recently woken up. Percy felt his heart clench as he immediately began to stammer out an apology.

“M-mom… I’m sorry, it’s not-” Sally cut him off, smiling softly as she stepped to the two boys.

“You guys have to go. It’s alright, sweetheart,” she murmured. Percy blinked rapidly, suddenly feeling immense guilt bubbling in his stomach. He knew it was hard for her when his father left with the other men of the tribe to fight, and now both he and Will were doing the exact same thing.

It was as though she read his mind as she stepped forward, outstretching her arms for a hug. Percy stepped in, taking in his mom’s warmth as long as he could. He heard her call to Will as well, and after a few seconds another pair of arms joined the hug.

The three stayed like that for a few more seconds before they all detangled themselves from the hug. Percy still felt a little bad, and he could tell from glancing at Will out of the corner of his eye that the younger teen felt the same.

“If you really don’t want us to go, we won’t,” Will began, shifting uncomfortably. Sally just smiled once more at the two, squinting slightly as she focused on their faces in the darkness.

“You two have put so much care into the tribe, but you are both old enough now that… well, it’s time for you guys to take your own paths. You both will always have a home here, but it’s time that you guys took your next steps.”

She first turned to Percy, reaching out and gently brushing her thumb against his cheek. “Stay safe out there, dear. You have a good heart and you are so strong; you’ll need to hold on to that if you really want to make a difference.”

Percy nodded, unable to really say anything. His mom turned to Will next, stepping closed and taking his hands in her own. “Your parents would be  _ so  _ proud, Will. You are an intelligent young man, and your powers are going to take you so far. I’m so proud of you as well.”

Will had tears in his eyes as he smiled lightly. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” he whispered. Sally just smiled, squeezing Will’s hand gently once more before letting go. 

“Go get settled with your friend. I’ll just grab some quick supplies you might need, ok?”

The two boys nodded mutely as Sally turned back and entered the tent. They made their way in silence to the boat where Thalia was waiting. The girl turned around, glaring as she caught sight of Percy.

“So I take it you’re staying, huh? Whatever, dude,” she grumbled, stepping into the boat. Percy was tempted to snap back, but felt Will elbow him into silence as he spoke up.

“Actually, I’m coming with you, and so is Percy.”

Thalia’s jaw almost seemed to hit the ground, staring at the duo in confusion, “You’re fucking with me right? This  _ scrub _ is coming with us? After his dramatic confrontation like five minutes ago?”

Percy huffed, glaring at her, “Look, let’s make this clear  _ right now _ : I don’t like you and you don’t like me. I’m coming with you guys, not to try and befriend your sorry ass, but to make sure you don’t pull something on Will here, and to maybe bash some Fire Nation heads in while I’m at it.”

Thalia narrowed her eyes at Percy, seeming ready to retort when she thought better of it, shrugging, “Whatever. Just stay out of my way and space, and we’ll get along just fine.”

Percy huffed, nodding curtly. Will and him stepped on the boat as well, settling in and stretching out. As Percy worked on fixing the sails, Sally arrived near the boat, holding three leather bags that seemed filled to the brim with miscellaneous items.

“One for each of you,” she said smiling, handing out the packs. Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy noticed Thalia’s stoic expression soften every so slightly, as she mumbled a shy  _ thank you _ to Sally.

With final goodbyes and best wishes exchanged, the boat pushed off from the safety of the Southern Water Tribe and began to move out to sea. Will immediately started chattering excitedly about trying to use his powers to move them a little faster and all the things he could see once they reached the Northern Water Tribe. Percy tried to listen attentively, but he was more focused on Thalia, who was sitting at the front of the boat, staring listlessly at the water’s horizon.

Percy didn’t trust her at all. She was hiding something, and Percy was positive she wasn’t going to tell anything anytime soon. Maybe she wasn’t some super secret Fire Nation spy, but whatever secret Thalia had would probably blow up in all their faces.

The girl seemed to feel Percy’s gaze on her, turning around and arching an eyebrow in a sort of challenge. Percy simply narrowed his eyes, leaning back.

_ It’s on _ , he thought to himself, begrudgingly turning his attention back to Will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh right. IDK how this was? I mean honestly, this is just almost a filler before their actual travels begin so...
> 
> I don’t really have much else to say lol. I’m just glad I got this done so I can work a little more on requests heh. I didn't proofread as much as usual on this one, mostly because I'm t i r e d. But yeah, feedback is greatly appreciated, as always. :D

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Like I said, I've had this idea in my head for so long, but I'm really nervous about uploading this. Please leave me any feedback and thanks for reading!
> 
> Also, honestly I'm not sure if it would be possible to fly that far after a ship or whatever but... Oh well.


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